Easton Technology Management Center

Benjamin Rostami’s passion for Medicine drove him to find ways to contribute to the field on a larger scale than just one-patient-at-a-time, specifically by bridging the gap between physicians and healthcare business leaders. On this pursuit, he acquired joint training in Medicine and Business, graduating from the University of Southern California, Summa Cum Laude, with degrees in both Biological Sciences and Business Administration, and then going on to earn his MD and MBA degrees from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and the UCLA Anderson School of Management, respectively, with the highest honors in both programs. During his education, he laid a strong foundation in medicine, healthcare policy, business, and entrepreneurship. The diversity of Benjamin’s experiences across the healthcare industry spans into consulting, with clients including SCAN Health Plan, and the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic. He worked at several medical centers throughout the Los Angeles area including UCLA, Cedars Sinai, and the Los Angeles County hospitals, learning about a diverse set of healthcare delivery models including FQHCs. He has published many peer-reviewed articles focusing on cost-effectiveness and outcomes of new medical technologies and procedures. For his Internal Medicine residency training, he was drawn to the large flagship location of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, where he was able to learn from one of the world’s most successful integrated healthcare delivery models in the world. He has a strong foundation of clinical experience in a broad base of medical subspecialties including cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, hematology and oncology, endocrinology, nephrology, rheumatology, pulmonary and critical care, infectious disease, inpatient hospital care, urgent care, and outpatient medicine. Benjamin’s interests in innovation and efficiency led to his involvement in quality and performance improvement on the Patient Day Rate workgroup, utilization management teams, and the COVID-19 Home Monitoring virtual care delivery pilot program at Kaiser Permanente. He is now focused on the future of healthcare—digital health, where he contributes to growing ventures at any stage with his combined clinical/business experience as a consultant and expert advisor. Benjamin’s ultimate passion is being at the forefront of healthcare innovation, where he hopes to use his clinical knowledge and experience to help guide business strategy and the growth of products that seek to improve patient outcomes, clinician wellness, and healthcare economics.

Mr. Fields is involved in all aspects of data center development, including site selection, land acquisition, permitting, and utilities interconnection and procurement. Prior to joining Google, he worked at SolarReserve developing Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaic (PV) power projects, in the U.S and Australia.  In that role, he negotiated agreements to acquire or lease over 10,000 acres of land, managed the interconnection process for over 600 MW of generation, and progressed permitting activities on 40+ projects. Mr. Fields has also worked in Commercial Real Estate Development and Acquisitions at Karlin Real Estate and Bond Companies, where he sourced and underwrote over $450 million of office, multi-family, retail and hotel properties.  He authored a white-paper on the advantages of green building and cutting-edge sustainable development. Before joining Bond Companies, Mr. Fields was an Assistant Vice-President at UBS Financial Services in New York. He worked in their Alternative Investments Group, conducting due-diligence and placing over $1 billion of capital into various hedge funds and private equity firms. 
   
    Mr. Fields has his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

 Brian is a Director in the Global Commercial organization at Kite Pharma. In this capacity, his responsibilities include global expansion strategy, commercial operations, and digital health.
   Prior to Kite, Brian spent 7 years as a consultant with Strategy&, a part of the PwC network, in the Global Markets, Health New Entrants and Innovators, and Enterprise Strategy practices. He was a founding executive at Augmedix, Inc., the world's first Google Glass enterprise healthcare startup and member of the 5th class at Rock Health. His started his career at Medtronic, Inc., in field sales and marketing.
   Brian is a graduate of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering in 2006, with degrees in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering. He also holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson as a 2013 alum.

David J. Whelan serves as Chief Executive Officer of BioscienceLA, the catalyst for life sciences and health innovation in the greater LA area, with a mission to accelerate the growth of funding, space, and talent, as well as messaging and awareness-building. Having spent 20 years in Los Angeles, he is passionate about leading the growth of a vibrant ecosystem that will create new opportunities for all stakeholders.
   
   Dave was an integral part of the creation of New York Genome Center, where he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development & Chief Strategy Officer. Recent engagements include incubating a digital health and media start-up, steering a multi-year strategic and financial plan for a leading synthetic biology organization, launching a cancer diagnostic spinoff from a leading hospital, and developing a market assessment and strategic plan for an innovative integrative healthcare research institute. Dave has spent many years as a start-up advisor, mentor, and judge with organizations like Larta Institute, Cedars-Sinai Accelerator, and Women Founders Network.
     He holds an MBA with Honors from the UCLA Anderson School and a BS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, and he remains very involved in alumni activities with both schools. He also studied at London Business School and Carnegie Mellon University.

Neama Dadkhahnikoo is an expert in artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship, with over 15 years of experience in technology development at startups, non profits, and enterprises. 

He currently serves as an Outbound Product Manager for Vertex AI, Google Cloud’s unified platform for end-to-end machine learning and AI. Previously, Mr. Dadkhahnikoo was the Director of AI and Data Operations at the XPRIZE Foundation, Tech Lead for the IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence XPRIZE, CTO of CaregiversDirect (AI startup for home care), co-founder and COO of Textpert (AI startup for mental health), and a startup consultant. He started his career as a Software Developer for The Boeing Company.

Mr. Dadkhahnikoo holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson; an MS in Project Management from Stevens Institute of Technology; and a BA in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, with a minor in Physics, from UC Berkeley.

UCLA's first Chief Sustainability Officer, Nurit Katz is working to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments to facilitate creating a world class living laboratory for sustainability at UCLA. Nurit also served as Executive Officer for UCLA Facilities Management for six years and is an Instructor for UCLA Extension's Sustainability Certificate Program. She also currently serves as Commissioner on the Board of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Nurit holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a Masters in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a BA in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University.

Danny Yu is an industrial technology CEO, board director and advisor with a track record of building early & growth stage companies across business cycles. He applies experience as a repeat venture-funded entrepreneur, former global VP of sales/marketing/product and ex-venture capitalist to startup conception, development and execution. Danny is passionate about enabling customers and decarbonizing physical B2B industries with deep tech solutions and bold teams.

His operating experience spans diverse industrial software and hardware applications including building 5 startup businesses each from 0 to as much as $100 million+ in revenue. Danny has also managed rapidly-growing global business segments exceeding $600 million for multi-billion revenue corporations.

As an executive, Danny has experienced 3 acquisition exits to global, public companies (CEO Riven > Stratasys, CEO/President Daintree > GE, VP Sales/Business Development Lumileds > Philips). He has served as a board director for 12 VC-funded startups, with seven exits to major acquirers. Danny received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Serge Gonzales creates uncommon solutions to common problems. He fiercely advocates for the role of the innovator mindset in solving multi-disciplinary challenges. He speaks and teaches workshops on the discipline of innovation at universities; advises companies on creating sustainable innovation that creates impact; and mentors startups and entrepreneurs on strategy, product, execution and cultural transformation. He has advised international government entities on creating innovative solutions in community engagement, health services, civic action, corporate innovation, intelligent cities and several other areas. He is a prolific inventor, with more than 24 patents issued in a broad range of categories, and he has many more still under review at the USPTO.

In his former role as director of innovation programs at eBay, he designed and built a comprehensive innovation ecosystem in which one out of every six eBay employees was an active participant. More than 20% of prototypes going through the program received funding, and almost 60% of those sponsored concepts were launched to customers.

Beyond his work in innovation, he pursues his passion for unlocking human potential. An aspiring polymath, he is an avid life hacker, delving into topics involving health, wealth and lifelong learning. His post-collegiate work involved developing gene therapy vectors and cancer vaccines. He co-founded a disruptive education program that helps students at under-resourced schools. He also co-founded the World Memory Tournament Federation with the world-record holder in memory, Dave Farrow. His recent work has been focused on creating economic opportunity, empowering inclusive narratives and nurturing human connectedness.

Peter Kung is senior vice president and chief strategy officer for Hospital Sisters Health System. He previously served as vice president and chief innovation officer at SCL Health (Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth) in Denver. Prior to SCL Health, he worked at UCLA Health and Health Sciences in Los Angeles for 14 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine; a master’s degree from Claremont Graduate University; an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management; and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Yipeng Zhao is a managing partner at Embark Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage companies. Embark Ventures is particularly interested in frontier/deep tech companies such as Advanced Material, cybersecurity, AI/ML, robotics and data analytics. He co-founded Embark Ventures in 2017, where he manages new investments and portfolio companies. Prior to this, he served as executive vice president of ZMXY Global Investment Inc., a China-based private equity company where he was involved in equity investment in China and U.S. He also helped ZMXY Global Investment set up its venture investment arm in Los Angeles as a part of its global strategy. He also worked at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) as a research statistician focused on nonparametric and semiparametric estimation and inference problems in econometrics. While at UCSD, he worked on the application of big data in customer behavior research and a game-theoretical econometrics approach to customer behavior research. He also has extensive research experience in financial risk management and time-series data analysis.

Howard is a Partner with Morpheus Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles that focuses on early stage technology investments. He currently serves as a Board Director of Ingenious.Build, RIZE, RIOS, and Tagnos as well as a Board Observer at Morpheus Space, Rugged Robotics and RapidDeploy. Howard was previously with Mission Ventures, a leading Southern California early stage venture capital firm. While at Mission he focused on investments in software, wireless technologies and semiconductors. Prior to Mission, he was with Salomon Smith Barney in their Technology Investment Banking Group where he was involved in over $3 billion of public and private financings and M&A. Howard has served as co-chair of the San Diego Telecom Council Wireless Infrastructure Group. He was a member of the Board of Reviewers for the San Diego based Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology, an organization funded by the Department of Defense. Howard holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Eric Thai is the Director of Finance and Mission impact investments for The SCAN Foundation. He is responsible for managing the Foundation’s investment portfolio and accounting functions. He leads the Mission Impact Investment program, which utilizes investments to further the Foundation’s mission to help older adults age with dignity and independence.

Eric is also the Finance Director of Alive Ventures, a venture studio launched by The SCAN Foundation. He was inspired to join Alive Ventures by its unique goal to create beautifully designed products and services that enrich later life. He sees an opportunity to truly design with older adults for an exciting stage in life, rather than design for someone else’s idea of a frail aging experience. Eric comes alive from exploring. He enjoys learning from others, mountain biking new trails, building legos with his kids, and traveling with his family in his self-built camper van.

Howard has 20+ years of experience in revenue cycle, charge capture, healthcare finance, and reimbursement. Howard is currently the Senior Director - Revenue Integrity at the Mayo Clinic. Howard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from UCLA and an MBA from Loyola Marymount University. He is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in California, and Fellow in both the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (FHFMA). He is also a Certified Healthcare Finance Professional (CHFP) and Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR) from the HFMA, and Certified Professional Coder (CPC) from the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

As Vice President of Business Development at Visage Energy, Daryl-Lynn is responsible for originating and cultivating new business opportunities as well as relationships with clients. She started and now leads the clean energy technology commercialization consulting group in the focus areas of Carbon Management (Point Source Capture, Carbon Utilization and Direct Air Capture), Microgrids, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, and Grid Modeling (technologies at TRL 3-7). Daryl-Lynn has 15+ years of experience within the clean energy industry. Most notably, she co-managed the first of a kind pre-FEED NGCC + CCS retrofit study within the western region involving California IOUs, NETL, and CEC. She coordinated the Technical CCS Regional Stakeholder Collaborative Initiative which included CA utilities, CPUC, CEC, and NETL culminating in the Blue Ribbon multi agency CCUS panel. She also assisted in the collaboration of the $35MM CPUC funded High Performance Computing CA Energy System for 21st Century (CES-21) Initiative Partnership with LLNL and CA IOUs for grid modeling and cyber security. Daryl-Lynn has served on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Clean Air (2009-2012), National Utilities Diversity Council (current), and Los Angeles African American Public Policy Institute (current). Daryl-Lynn received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School in 2004. She also received her Master of Science in Industrial Engineering in 2002 from Stanford University where her primary emphasis was Entrepreneurship. In 2000, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.

Varun joined Danaher (a healthcare conglomerate) as part of the General Manager Development Program (GMDP) in 2018, after completing his MBA at UCLA Anderson. He is currently a Director of Global Product Management and Strategy, where he is responsible for advancing a portfolio of molecular diagnostics products in the oncology space. As part of the GMDP program, he has also held roles in Global Product Marketing and Business Development / Strategy functions in IVD (in vitro diagnostics) and Oncology Medical Device businesses, respectively. Prior to Danaher, Varun worked in the biopharmaceutical industry for 9 years in various operations functions (manufacturing and quality). He also has a M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins and B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis.

Ben has more than 15 years of experience in finance and technology. He’s CFO of Harbinger Motors and sits on the boards of ProducePay and Bespoke Financial, two fintech companies he co-founded for which he's raised closed to $1B. He was the CFO of Radlink Inc, a medical software company where he oversaw the signing of a co-marketing agreement with Johnson & Johnson. Prior to that role he was the director the family office for the owners of the largest farming company in America, The Wonderful Companies. His other professional experiences include working for the investment bank Credit Suisse, for the digital imaging division of Eastman Kodak and as Treasurer of the Kelly Shires Breast Cancer Foundation. He holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Business, a graduate certificate in marketing from McGill University and a Bachelors of Commerce from Concordia University.

Mr. Felix (EMBA 2020) has spent time in five industries as an intrapreneur, using data to improve how companies function. Since 2014, he has been in the healthcare industry, first at a technology/data services company, and now on the provider side at Novocardia Health. He loves the healthcare sector precisely because it is one of the areas where frankly, there is a ton of profit to be made by doing good rather than doing what has been done. A huge proponent of Clayton Christensen's disruption methodologies, he is constantly asking "what's the job to be done."

With a passion for solving business problems with novel and innovative technology, Matt has spent his entire career at the intersection of business and technology, working with and for technology leaders like Avaya, Nortel, Cisco, Microsoft, and Zoom. In various roles, he served as a technology consultant for firms in a variety of fields, including Creative Artists Agency, Dole, John Deere, Amgen, Herman Miller, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank, among others. As the Market Intelligence Lead at Zoom, he spends his days understanding the market for enterprise communications and collaboration. He has worked with companies with solutions that touch cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. He has led transformation initiatives to help companies transition to a SaaS model and leverage technology to modernize business processes for efficiency and other competitive differentiation. Matt is a strong advocate for cross-functional fluency between business and technology. Business-minded professionals must understand technology to the extent it impacts business processes and opportunities. Likewise, technology-minded professionals should understand if, and how, their innovations impact their own business or the businesses of potential customers and articulate that value. Matt received his bachelor’s degree in International Business from The George Washington University and his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Founder and CEO - nSpire AI, building the future of storytelling with AI Visionary Leader with experience guiding cross functional, multicultural, multinational teams. Solid track record in launching 30+ successful products for industry leaders like Siemens, LG, Sony, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Nuance, AAA ventures. Extensive experience building hybrid AI products in embedded, datacenter and cloud. Strong passion for and understanding of latest technologies. Known for deep customer empathy and focus on building great UI/UX. Venture advisor, mentor, soccer fan, dad of 2.

As a business leader with 23 years of experience, I have always enjoyed working on new and ambiguous challenges by clarifying problems, seeking effective solutions, and formulating strategy with diverse and efficient teams so as to create value for others be it customers, clients, or partners. Expressing this passion, I currently lead Industry Verticals product strategy at Amazon Web Services, and have also worked on Alexa, Fire TV, Fire Tablets, and Appstore products. Previously, I worked in strategy and analytics at Green Dot (a financial technology firm), my own e-commerce startup (home decor and furniture), and management consulting at PwC (servicing Fortune 500 clients in the entertainment and finance industries). I graduated from UCLA Anderson Fully Employed MBA program in 2019. I received my B.A. in Business Economics with a minor in Accounting and Computer Programming from UCLA as well.

I'm am an Emergency Medicine Resident at UCLA passionate about driving innovation in healthcare. I bring experience from co-founding 2 startups, teaching Biodesign principles, running digital clinical trials and building medical research apps. Prior to residency, I worked at Khosla Ventures investing in MedTech and Digital Health startups. In my spare time, I talk about cars and Formula 1 which is great for my friends who have difficulty sleeping.

Walter is currently a Vistage chair and runs a CEO Peer Group in the San Francisco Bay Area. Previously he has had a successful career as a media (20th Century Fox) , technology (NEC) and startup executive who has co-founded or led companies to six successful exits including a public company unicorn (Blackhawk Network). In addition to his coaching practice with Walter advises early stage and growth companies in sales, marketing, business development, and product strategies.

Rick Smith serves as VP of Business Development for Vicinity Energy in their Northeast region. In this role he supports large scale development efforts with both new and existing customers. Rick is an environmental services industry veteran with over 25 years of experience, including prior roles leading operations for Veolia North America’s district energy, water and wastewater businesses on the west coast, and holding leadership roles in finance and operations for SourceOne, a national energy consulting firm. His roles have kept him focused on delivering sustainable climate focused environmental solutions that meet technical and economic needs for the customers he supports. Rick studied finance and business at Northeastern University as an undergraduate and he has an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Rick is also a combat veteran and former Marine.

Associate at TenOneTen Ventures. I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico and pursued my education at Northwestern University, where I earned a B.S. in Chemical and Biotech Engineering and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering. After graduation, I worked in investment banking at ADS/Moelis before transitioning to a role as a consultant in strategic planning at Galera Consultores. I then moved on to work as an investor in the Latin American VC space at Dalus Capital, where I gained valuable experience in the industry.